Bleacher Report's Week 12 NFL Awards

And then there was one.

Week 12 was supposed to be highlighted by the 17th meeting between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. With Manning on the shelf, the script then flipped to the 10-0 New England Patriots' pursuit of a second perfect regular season.

Well, that script got flipped too. Right onto its head.

The Denver Broncos' upset of the previously undefeated Pats leaves only the Carolina Panthers (who cruised past the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving) as the league's only unbeaten team through 12 weeks.

And it's in the Mile High City where we'll begin our look back at the best and worst of Thanksgiving weekend as voted on by the National Lead Writers and NFL Analysts here at Bleacher Report.

Team of the Week

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Winner: Denver Broncos (8 votes)

There's trouble afoot in Denver.

Well, sort of. As a team, the Broncos are on cloud nine after their thrilling 30-24 overtime upset of the mighty Patriots. Over the past two weeks the Broncos have rediscovered their run game. Brock Osweiler has shown to be more than capable of running Gary Kubiak's offense.

Of course, Osweiler's play these past couple of games also presents the Broncos with something of a dilemma—one they surely never expected to be facing as the calendar turns to December.

What do they do when Manning returns?

In the opinion of NFL National Lead Writer Mike Freeman, it's an easy call to make:

"

This is (Brock) Osweiler's moment, but it would be short-sighted not to fast-forward to when Peyton Manning is healthy again and talk about what the Broncos will do. This is a no-brainer. This decision isn't tough at all. You stick with Osweiler. And my guess is that is what the Broncos will do.

Gary Kubiak's offense simply runs better through Osweiler. If this was Manning five years ago that wouldn't be true. If it was Manning even one year ago, you'd take Manning. The truth is Manning's body is shot. He's aged in dog years.

If there's anything Sunday's 30-24 Broncos overtime win shows, it's that the Broncos should feel secure in turning the team over to Osweiler. Not next year or in a few. But now. Right now. He's ready.

"

Yes, even in the biggest win for the Broncos this season, there's drama. An unthinkable quarterback controversy—one that Manning might well find himself on the wrong side of.

Oh well. Just think of all the extra time he'll have for Christmas shopping.

Coach of the Week

Jack Dempsey/Associated Press

Winner: Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos (5 votes)

A week ago, after the Osweiler-led Broncos downed the Chicago Bears, John Clayton of ESPN wrote that more was changing in Denver than just the name on the back of the quarterback's jersey:

"

With Peyton Manning back in Denver getting treatment for his multiple injuries, the Broncos officially shifted away from the on-the-field control of Manning to the all-encompassing control of the coach who happens to be the friend John Elway hired to be on the sidelines.

Elway and owner Pat Bowlen are all about winning, so it was important to form a plan this past offseason in case age and injuries caught up with Manning this year. In other words, this was expected. When Elway fired Fox and brought in his trusted friend, Kubiak, it was expected that as a former quarterback Kubiak could work closely with Manning, but also map the transition away from Manning. Kubiak installed an offense that didn't totally fit Manning's style, but Elway knew Manning would be professional enough to work with Kubiak.

It was all a compromise, essentially. There was hope for Manning, but also a hedge against his physical decline.

Today, we saw the hedge. Osweiler, a 6-foot-8 former second-round pick, had waited three-and-a-half years for his first NFL start. Kubiak made it work against the Bears, and Osweiler offered short- and long-term hope for the Broncos.

"

Of course, there's a lot of difference between beating the Bears and defeating the undefeated. If the Bears game wasn't the beginning of the Kubiak era, it surely began Sunday night.

The torch was passed. Instead of Manning in the pistol, it was Osweiler under center. Multiple tight-end sets. Banging away on the ground.

It was football the way Kubiak likes it.

And it worked.

Others receiving votes: Vic Fangio, DC, Chicago Bears (2 votes); John Fox, Chicago Bears (1 vote)

Goat of the Week

David Goldman/Associated Press

"Winner": Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons (6 votes)

Being an NFL quarterback is a pretty sweet gig. Millions of dollars per year. Commercial endorsements. Glory galore.

At least as long as your team is winning. When it isn't, well...

Of course, in the opinion of NFL National Lead Writer Mike Tanier, Eli Manning of the New York Giants more than earned his Goat of the Week vote with his performance against the Washington Redskins:

"

I know two of Eli's interceptions were tip drills. I know his offensive line was wattled together out of twigs and mud. The Redskins secondary is terrible, and this was a game the Giants had to win. A veteran of Eli's pedigree cannot be shut out by a bad divisional opponent for three quarters.

"

And yet, as Kevin Patra of NFL.com wrote, Manning's play really doesn't look that bad when compared to the extended swoon of Atlanta signal-caller Matt Ryan:

"

On Sunday, Ryan threw two more brutal interceptions, including one in the red zone, in a 20-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Ryan has five red zone turnovers (4 INTs, 1 fumble lost), tied for the most in the NFL. He threw for just 230 yards Sunday, breaking a streak of 17-straight games with at least 250 passing yards.

For a quarterback who looked so comfortable in Kyle Shanahan's offense early in the season, Ryan's play has been one of the most overlooked disappointments of the season. Instead of taking a step forward into the upper echelon of signal-callers, he's dropped back into the muddied middle waters.

Ryan has four games this season with a passer rating below 80.0. He had six games with a passer rating below 80.0 in all of 2013 and 2014 combined. In the Falcons' last two losses he's thrown five interceptions to just four touchdowns.

"

Remember when the Falcons were good?

Yeah, me neither.

Others receiving votes: Eli Manning, QB, New York Giants (1 vote); NFL officials (1 vote)

Rookie of the Week

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Winner: Amari Cooper, WR, Oakland Raiders (8 votes) 

One of the reasons the Oakland Raiders have been so bad for so long is that the team repeatedly whiffed on early draft picks. Darrius Heyward-Bey. JaMarcus Russell. It isn't a short list.

It's also not an endless list. Last year the team drafted talented pass-rusher Khalil Mack. This year it was wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Neither is anywhere close to a bust.

In fact, as ESPN.com's Bill Williamson reported, with his seven catches for 115 yards against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12, Cooper etched his name into the Oakland history books:

"

Cooper moved into the Raiders' record books Sunday. He has 851 receiving yards, now the Oakland rookie record for receiving. He eclipsed the 777 yards James Jett gained in 1993. In a classic Cooper comment, he said Sunday, "It's always good to break records."

It might not be his only record. Cooper's 58 receptions are tied for the sixth-most by an NFL rookie (since 1960) through 11 games. He is the third rookie since the 1970 merger with four 100-yard receiving games in his team's first 11 games. He is the first Raiders rookie to have four 100-yard receiving games. He is the seventh NFL player with at least 800 receiving yards at age 21 or younger.

"

It's really quite simple. You aren't going to win many games if you don't have the horses.

And in Cooper, the Raiders appear to have found a thoroughbred.

Best QB Performance

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Winner: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (6 votes)

There have been a lot of "what's wrong with the..." thrown around in regard to the Seattle Seahawks in 2015.

What's wrong with the defense?

What's wrong with the offensive line?

What's wrong with the quarterback?

Well, as Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times reported, in Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, it turns out there wasn't much wrong with Russell Wilson at all:

"

On his 27th birthday, the Seahawks’ quarterback decided that great wasn’t good enough — that only spectacular would do. Didn’t he hear? He was supposed to be receiving the gifts Sunday, not giving them.

Instead, Wilson handed out 345 yards on 21-of-30 passing. He added a career-high five touchdown throws and late-game heroics, too. In a 39-30 win over Pittsburgh, Wilson bestowed 12s with what was likely his best regular-season game.

“Unbelievable,” Seattle tight end Luke Willson said of his QB. “It was just fun to be a part of.”

"

When you consider that Wilson needed three IVs Sunday to battle an illness, his performance becomes more unbelievable still.

And he is going to need to keep it up. With Marshawn Lynch hurt, Jimmy Graham out for the season and the Legion of Boom not scaring anyone, the Seahawks will only go as far over the next couple of months as Wilson takes them.

Others receiving votes: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions (2 votes)

Best RB Performance

Associated Press

Winner: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (7 votes) 

Thanks to their win over the Atlanta Falcons (and the Green Bay Packers' stunning home loss to the Chicago Bears Thanksgiving night), the Minnesota Vikings, at 8-3, are once again alone in first place in the NFC North.

And as Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com wrote, there's a three-word explanation for why.

Adrian. Freaking. Peterson:

"

The Vikings running back is already on pace for another Pro Bowl year, leading the league in rushing yards (1,164), attempts (237) and yards per game (105.8) despite missing all of 2014. He's single-handedly taken Minnesota to the top of the NFC North standings, and is running away with Comeback Player of the Year.

But most importantly, he's playing his best in the most vital of games. Following a disappointing performance against the Packers, Peterson ripped up the Georgia Dome turf in a matchup between two playoff-hungry teams. AD terrorized the Falcons' front seven all day en route to a 158-yard performance on a dominant 29 rushes. Peterson salted the 20-10 win away with a fourth-quarter 35-yard gallop to the end zone for his second touchdown on which he accelerated, a la 2012 Peterson, through the Falcons' secondary with no regard for human life.

Over the Vikings' past seven games, they have won six, and Teddy Bridgewater has thrown over 250 yards in just two games, one of them a division loss. Long story short: when Minnesota takes the ball out of Teddy's hands and thrusts it into Peterson's, good things happen. Just ask the Falcons.

"

All day, baby.

Others receiving votes: C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos (1 vote)

Best WR Performance

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

Winner: Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions (5 votes)

There are a few traditions associated with Thanksgiving. Among them are feasting and the Detroit Lions playing a game in front of their home fans.

Well, in a blowout win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Lions wideout Calvin Johnson decided to kill two birds with one rock.

That is, if you consider eight catches for 93 yards and three scores a feast.

As Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reported, the performance was just another feather in a cap that looks like a bird's wing:

"

Johnson has had a historic career with the Lions. Since joining the franchise as the second overall pick in the 2007 draft, he's caught 710 passes for 11,326 yards, both franchise records.

He's rolled up all kinds of league records, too.

Johnson holds the record for most yards in a regulation game (329). He's the only player with consecutive 1,600-yard seasons (2011-12). He has the longest streak of 100-yard games (eight), and the longest streak of 10-catch games (four).

He has the most 100-yard games in a season (11), and the most 200-yard games in a career (five). He was the fastest receiver ever to 10,000 yards (115 games).

"

Oh, and he holds the record for the most yardage in a season too, if you're into that sort of thing.

On the cusp of yet another 1,000-yard season, Johnson told Meinke he rather enjoys proving wrong those who said his best football was behind him.

"I can't lie and say no to that," he said. "But at the same time, like I say, it's expected of myself to do those things."

Long live Megatron.

Others receiving votes: Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks (1 vote); Markus Wheaton, Pittsburgh Steelers (1 vote); Jeremy Maclin, Kansas City Chiefs (1 vote)

Best TE Performance

Frank Victores/Associated Press

Winner: Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (6 votes) 

There was good news and bad news for Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert in Week 12.

The good news? He found the end zone for the 12th time, most among any NFL pass-catchers. More than Antonio Brown. More than Rob Gronkowski. More than anybody.

In fact, Eifert is on pace to break Gronkowski's tight end record of 17 touchdown grabs in a season.

The bad news is that Eifert, who missed most of last season, went down with a shoulder injury in the second half of the Bengals' blowout win over the St. Louis Rams.

However, the former Notre Dame star told Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he should be A-OK:

"

I'm OK. There's protocol with the stinger. I've had it before, I've dealt with it before. Just want to make sure you get your strength back and feeling back in your arm. Whether I would have come back or not, they just kind of said, "All right you're done, we are not even going to worry about it." If I had to come in, probably, but I'll be fine.

"

The Bengals had better hope so.

Given how important Eifert has become to the passing game, a deep playoff run may depend on it.

Others receiving votes: Julius Thomas, Jacksonville Jaguars (2 votes)

Best Defensive Performance

J Patrick Schneider/Associated Press

Winner: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans (6 votes)

Don't look now, but the Houston Texans, who a month ago looked like a steaming pile of monkey poop, have now reeled off four straight wins to climb to 6-5 on the season.

And as Deadspin's Patrick Redford pointed out, much like with the Vikings and Adrian Peterson, it isn't hard to figure out why the Texans are white-hot.

Just follow the shrieking quarterbacks:

"

The Texans looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL for the majority of the first half of the season. Their only wins through Week 7 were over the Bucs in Jameis Winston’s third game and the Jaguars. The team was embroiled in the dumbest quarterback controversy ever between Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer, and Arian Foster had just torn his Achilles. Enter J.J. Watt.

In the past five games, Watt has 9.5 sacks and 24 tackles, and the rest of the defense has rallied around him and moved into the top 10 on yards allowed per play. Since the ignominious blowout loss to Miami in Week 7, the Texans have allowed just 35 points in four games. Today, they hosted the Saints and extinguished them with ease 24-6, Drew Brees and all. Brees has been impressive all year, but today he threw a pick, no touchdowns, and went only 25/44 with 255 yards. It was a historic performance.

Watt hit Brees seven times, and his 13.5 sacks on the year put him right about on pace for a third-straight 20-sack season. He’s regained the terrifying form that saw him lead the Texans to wins all on his own last season, and in this year’s trash-as-hell AFC South, that might be good for a playoff berth.

"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The NFL may be a quarterback-driven league, but Watt is the league's best player. Period.

Others receiving votes: Ezekiel Ansah, DE, Detroit Lions (2 votes)

Best Decision

Joe Mahoney/Associated Press

Winner: Brock Osweiler's overtime audible (7 votes)

OK, I'll freely admit that people may be getting a bit carried away with the accolades for Osweiler, who (if you believe the reports) just ended Peyton Manning's playing days with the greatest display of awesome since cavemen invented fire.

Fine, discovered. Whatever.

Yes, Osweiler led the Broncos to a win over the undefeated Patriots. But he had help from one of the league's best defenses, a ground game that piled up more than 170 yards and some puzzling late-game decisions by the Pats.

Still, Osweiler made at least one excellent decision Sunday night. One that involved not throwing the ball.

You see, as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk reports, it was Osweiler who called an audible into the run play that turned into a 48-yard C.J. Anderson touchdown in overtime: "It was a check that we had worked on all week in practice. We were trying to run the ball [to the] weak [side]. They gave us a specific defensive front that we can’t run that ball into, so I checked to our second play that we called in our huddle. The line did a hell of a job and C.J. did the rest."

Sorry, Peyton.

Have a chicken parm and a seat, buddy.

Others receiving votes: Jaguars go for it on 4th-and-7 for a touchdown (1 vote)

Worst Decision

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

"Winner": Pittsburgh Steelers fake field goal (4 votes) 

There's nothing wrong with a fake field goal. Or with aggressive coaching.

Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin is certainly an aggressive coach. That made it all the more curious when Pittsburgh kicked a field goal down five points late in Sunday's loss at Seattle.

However, it wasn't that decision that got Tomlin the nod in this category in Week 12.

As Jarrett Bell of USA Today reports, it was a decision that came earlier in the game:

"

It was the move to start the second quarter, on fourth-and-2 from the Seattle 27, when Tomlin bypassed a 45-yard field-goal try, nearly the same distance that Chris Boswell connected on in the first quarter, that haunted Pittsburgh.

What a disaster. Rather than kick, Landry Jones, the backup quarterback, set up for a pass and threw across the field, hoping to complete a throw to an offensive lineman! It turned out as maybe the easiest interception of Jeremy Lane’s career, a gift in his first game back since he suffered a fractured arm and injured knee in Super Bowl XLIX. It set up Wilson’s first TD pass of the day to Baldwin and gave the Seahawks their first lead — yep, Seattle was up 7-3 rather than likely trailing 6-0.

The Steelers chased that decision for the rest of the day.

Sure, there was plenty of time to make up for the gaffe, and the Steelers nearly did. But Tomlin picked the wrong time to gamble on a fake field goal.

"

And that isn't the worst of it. The Steelers lined up with Jones as the holder (not his usual role) prior to a timeout. Then came out in the same formation.

They tipped the fake.

And lo and behold, the play didn't work.

Others receiving votes: Jeff Fisher's press conference (1 vote); Rex Ryan not challenging obvious botched call on Chris Hogan catch (1 vote); Broncos going for a field goal down by five with 3:00 left (1 vote); single coverage on Jeremy Maclin all day (1 vote)

Player of the Week

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Winner: Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks (4 votes)

Given all the ups and downs the two-time defending NFC champions have gone through this year, the Seattle Seahawks have generated no shortage of press in 2015.

And that was certainly the case after the Seahawks played arguably their best game of 2015 in downing the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After tossing a career-best five scoring passes, Peter King of the MMQB named Russell Wilson his offensive player of the week:

"

There’s a bit of emptiness not giving this award to Ben Roethlisberger, who, in the first game he ever played in Seattle, threw for a Seahawk-opponent record of 456 yards. But Wilson was spectacular, especially late. Three times he led touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. Three times he finished those with touchdown passes, one to Jermaine Kearse and two to Doug Baldwin. This was Wilson’s 67th NFL game, regular season and playoffs, and twice before he’d thrown four touchdowns in a game. Never had he thrown five—until Sunday. His numbers: 21 of 30, 345 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and the third-highest passer rating of his career, 147.9.

"

Frank Schwab of Yahoo Sports was also impressed:

"

Wilson hasn’t had the greatest season for the Seattle Seahawks, right after he became one of the NFL’s highest-paid players.

But when the Seahawks needed it on Sunday, Wilson had one of his best days as a pro. ...

... Wilson has had a fantastic start to his career but has never been viewed as the type of quarterback who can carry an entire offense. He did that on Sunday. Now the Seahawks are 6-5 and very much alive in the NFC playoff race.

"

Half our voters agreed, making Wilson the Week 12 Bleacher Report Player of the Week.

That's Russell Wilson's bird.

Others receiving votes: Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions (2 votes), Brock Osweiler, QB, Denver Broncos (1 vote), JJ Watt, DE, Houston Texans (1 vote)